Machine for shaping the welts of prewelted uppers



Nov. 4-, 1941. w. A. WHEATON MACHINE FOR SHAPING THE WELTS OF PREWELTEDUPPERS Filed Dec. 27, 19.39 2 Sheets-Sheet l Nov. 4, 1941. w. A. WHEATON 3 L MACHINE FOR SHAPING THE WELTS OF PREWELTED UPPERS Filed Dec. 27,1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Nov. 4, 1941 MACHINE FOR SHAPING THEWELTS OF PREWELTED UPPERS William A. Wheaten, Lynn, Mass, assignor toUnited Shoe Machinery Corporation, Borough of Flemington, N. J., acorporation of New Jersey Application December 27, 1939, Serial No.311,149 (01. 12,-51)

Claims.

This invention relates to machines for shap ing the welts of prewelteduppers and is herein illustrated and described as embodied in a' machinehaving a pair of rolls between which the work passes. These rolls notonly feed the work but operate also to shape it to the desired form.

The illustrated machine is intended particularly for operation uponwelts of the type disclosed in United States Letters Patent No. 2,119,-801, granted June 7, 1938, on the application of W. C. Vizard. This weltis made from strip material substantially rectangular in cross section.Two slits are made in one edge of the strip extending inwardly for abouta half thewidth of the strip, dividing one marginal portion 'of the weltinto three flaps. Th margin of the shoe upper is secured between two ofthese flaps, while the third flap is left free for subsequent attachmentto an insole. The unslit margin of the welt strip constitutes the usualextension for attachment to an outsole. However, before this extensioncan be secured to the outsole it must first be turned outwardlyrelatively to the two flaps between which the margin of the upper hasbeen attached. Because of the thickness of the welt at the point wherethe crease is to be formed considerable pressure is required to do this.

' It is an object of the present invention to provide a machineparticularly adapted for performing the shaping operation abovedescribed. In accordance with an object of the invention, theillustrated machine is provided with a pair of parallel rolls betweenwhich the work piece may be pressed, one of the rolls having a portionof its periphery tapering and having adjacent the small end of thetapering portion a flange for engaging an edge of the work piece. Thisflange engages the end of the outsole extension of a welt of the typeunder consideration to prevent the welt from being forced out betweenthe ends of the rolls. The other roll, as shown, is in the form of apair of stepped cylinders, the cylin-- der of smaller diametercooperating with the tapered portion of the first-mentioned roll. As thewelt passes between the rolls, the outsole extension is bent back uponthe two flaps between which the margin of the upper is attached. .Thefree flap of the welt which is later to be attached to the insole passesbetween cylindrical portions of both rolls. The invention furtherconsists of various features of construction and combinations of partsherein disclosed and claimed the advantages of which will be apparent tothose skilled in the art, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, in which Fig. I is a side elevation of the improved machine;and

Fig. 2 is a side elevation on an enlarged scale showing the rolls of themachine in. operation upon a welt.

The supporting structure of the improved machin comprises a frame havinga stationary portion In adapted to be secured upon a work table. Upon afulcrum pin I2 in the frame In ispivotally mounted a head I4; Journaledin suitable bearings formed in the stationary frame member I 0 is acountershaft I6 driven by a pulley l8 from a belt 20 and carrying a gear22. Also journaled in bearings formed in the frame member III is a shaft24 paralle1 to the shaft l6 and driven through a gear'26 in engagementwith the gear 22. Journaled in suitable bearings formed in the head 14is a shaft 28 substantially parallel to the shafts 24 and i6 and driventhrough a gear 30 which engages the gear 26. In order to providefor'adjustment of the head l4 in a direction parallel to the threeshafts above mentioned the head is provided with a slot 32 engaging thepin I2 and extending in a direction parallel to the three shafts. Suchadjustment of the head is effected through a screw 34 threaded into theframe member ID and extending through a vertical slot in a lug 36 on thehead M. A head 38 and acollar 40 on the screw 34 engage opposite sidesof the lug 36 to prevent endwise movement of the screw relatively to thelug. The head I4 is normally held down to a stop positionby a' spring 42surrounding a rod 44,1one end of thespring abutting an under surface ofthe frame member ID and the opposite end of the spring abutting a nut 46threaded upon the lower end of the rod 44 to provide adjustment of thepressure of the Sp ing. The rod 44 passes upwardly through a bearing 48on the frame member Ill and at its upper end is enlarged andhorizontally slotted for engagement with a pin 5n secured' in the head[4. The stop position of the head 14 is determined by a screw 52threadedinto the frame member ID and engageable with the collar 40 tolimit downward movement of the head l4. To provide for raising the head[4 for the introduction of the work piece, the rod 44 has a lateralextension 54 which is engaged by a lever 56 fulcrumed upon a pin 58secured in the frame member ID. A rod 60 connects the lever 56 with atreadle (not shown). The frame member ID has a pair of upwardlyextending portions 6| which engage opposite sides of the head [4 andserve as guides to support the head against-lateral movement.

Keyed upon an end of the shaft 28 is an upper roll 62. A washer 64engaged by the head of a screw 66 which is threaded endwise into theshaft 28 holds the roll upon the shaft. The periphery of the roll 62 hasa cylindrical inner end portion 68, an intermediate portion which tapersfrom the diameter of the cylinder 68 to a less diameter, and an outerend portion 12 tapering sharply to a larger diameter from the small endof the intermediate portion 10 and forming the inner surface of an endflange. The roll 62 is mounted upon the shaft 28 with the portion 12adjacent to the end of the shaft. The intermediate portion 10 is notstrictly conical but slightly concaved.

Secured upon the shaft 24 below the roll 62 is a roll 14 having itsperiphery in the form of two stepped cylinders 16 and 18 of greater andless diameters respectively. The cylinder 18 is adjacent to the end ofthe shaft 24 and coop-' erates with the tapered intermediate portion 10of the roll 62, while the cylinder 16 cooperates with the cylindricalportion 68 of the roll 62. The shoulder between the cylinders 16 and I8is rounded off as indicated by the reference character 80. The cylinder16 overextends the cylindrical surface 68 widthwise with the shoulder 80extending slightly beyond or to the right of the junction of thecylindrical surface 68 and the tapered surface 10. The exact amount bywhich the shoulder 80 extends to the right beyond the cylindricalsurface 68 is important, and is determined by adjustment of the screw34. The roll 14 is fixed upon the shaft 24 by a countersunk washer 82which is engaged by the head of a screw 84 threaded endwise into theshaft.

Mounted upon the outer end of the head I4 is a guide 86 having a slot 88through which extends a clamping screw 90 threaded into the head M. Theslot extends heightwise and provides for vertical adjustment of theguide. Thelower end of the guide is hook-shaped and has an end portioninclined upwardly and inwardly, or backwardly from the position of theoperator, and also to the right. On this end portion is formed a smoothguiding surface 92 for engagement with the work piece.

The operation of the rolls is'illustrated in Fig. 2. The work piececomprises a welt W secured to the marginal portion of the upper of ashoe S. The welt W comprises an outsole attaching extension E whichrepresents the full thickness of the material from which the welt ismade, and three flaps F F F which together make up the thickness of thewelt material. The upper of the shoe S; as shown, is secured between theflaps F and by stitching whilethe flap F (which has been turned awayfrom the other flaps during the stitching of the upper) is freeforsubsequent attachment toan insole; Before the operation which is to beperformed by this machine, the various portions of the welt W occupy therelative positions indicated in the section identified by the referencenumeral 94 in Fig. 2. The operation consists in bending back theextension E from theposition shown at 94 to the position shown in thesection indicated by the reference numeral 96. To insert the work in themachine, the operator first bends back a small portion of the extensionE and depresses the treadle, to raise the upper roll 62 which enableshim to insert the welt between the rolls in the position shown insection 96. Upon release of the treadle the spring 42 causes the roll 62to bear down upon the welt with sufiicient pressure to urge theextension E downwardly against the base of the flap F and to form adefinite crease between the extension and the flap. The rotation of therolls thereupon feeds the work progressively, away from the operator,until the locality at which the welt was inserted has been reachedagain. The guide 86 is not engaged by the flap F but only by theextension E. As the work advances the guiding surface 92 helps to raisethe extension thereby facilitating the work of the rolls. The pressureupon the welt is greatest between the cylinder '18 and the taperedportion 10 at a locality close to the shoulder 80. The tapered surfaceof the flange 12 engages the outer edge of the extension E to preventthe work from being squeezed out from between the rolls. The concavityof the surface 10 enables greater downward pressure to be imposed uponthe outer portion of the extension E, which flexes, than could beobtained by a conical surface. The flap F passes between the cylinder 16and the cylindrical surface 18 which grip it with a pressure sufiicientto aid in feeding the welt, but not great enough to lessen theconcentration of pressure at the locality above mentioned.

When the work is removed from between the rolls, the extension E willnot resume the original position indicated at 94 but will tend to extendout at a sharp angle from the flap E. This condition of the weltfacilitates the laying and stitching of the outsole, and insures thatthe welt will lie flat without beating.

Having described my invention, What I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A machine for shaping the welts of prewelted uppers, comprising apair of rolls having opposed cylindrical portions for gripping andfeeding a flap of a welt, one of said rolls having a portion of itsperiphery tapering to bend the outsole attaching extension of the weltaway from said iiap and having also at the small end of said taperingportion a flange for engaging the edge of the outsole attachingextension to prevent the welt from being squeezed out from between therolls.

2. A machine for shaping the welts of prewelted uppers, comprising apair of parallel rolls between which a welt may be pressed, one of saidrolls having its periphery tapering to a less diameter toward the end ofthe roll for bending the outsole attaching extension of the welt andhaving adjacent to the small end of said tapered portion a flange forengaging the edge of said outsole attaching extension to preventthe weltfrom being squeezed out from between the rolls, the other of said rollshaving a peripheral portion which is closer to said tapered portion atthe larger end of the tapered portion than at the smaller end, and meansfor driving one of said rolls.

3. A machine for shaping the welts of prewelted uppers, comprising aroll having a portion of its periphery tapering for bending the outsoleattaching extension of the welt and having adjacent to the small end ofsaid tapering portion a flange for engaging said outsole attachingextension to prevent the welt from being squeezed out from between therolls, a roll parallel to the first-mentioned roll and having theportion of its periphery which is adjacent to the tapering portion ofthe first-mentioned roll substantially rolls.

4. A machine for shaping the welts of prewelted uppers, comprising aroll having an end portion of its periphery cylindrical, an intermediateportion tapering to a less diameter from said cylindrical portion, andan end portion tapering to a greater diameter from the small end of saidintermediate portion, and a roll parallel to the first-mentioned rollwith its periphery in the form of stepped cylinders of greater and lessdiameter respectively, the cylinder of greater diameter being inoperating relation to the cylindrical portion of the first-mentionedroll to provide a relatively small space therebetween and the cylinderof less diameter being in operating relation to the intermediate portionof the first-mentioned roll to provide a relatively large spacetherebetween.

5. A machine for shaping the welts of prewelted uppers, comprising aroll having an end portion of its periphery cylindrical, an intermediateportion concave and tapering to a less rounded off.

WILLIAM A. WHEATON.

